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Pastor of O'Bryan Spikes: 'Many people liked him if not, they loved him'

COVINGTON - He wasn't supposed to be at the Cameo nightclub, his pastor said.

O'Bryan Spikes, nicknamed "Lucky," was convinced by friends to go out after he'd planned to stay home Saturday and go to church in the morning. Instead, he ended up the only person dead of a gunshot wound to the chest in a shooting at the club.

Sixteen others were injured in the shooting which ties with a November 2015 shooting in New Orleans as the 10th worst mass shooting in the United States since 2013. Police have made no arrests and say the investigation is ongoing.

"He wasn't going to the club that night," said Bishop Darin Miller, pastor of Word of Life Christian Fellowship of Covington. "He told his mom and his sister, 'I'm staying home.'"

Spikes planned to attend an 11:30 a.m. service on Sunday. Spikes' sister asked Miller to be their family's spokesman. They were grieving Tuesday in the wake of his killing. They declined to comment to news media.

O'Bryan Spikes, 27.(Photo: Provided by family of O'Bryan Spikes)

Miller's phone rang incessantly at around 2 a.m. Sunday, and he finally answered after the fourth call. It was a sister of Spikes.

"She told me, 'They shot my brother,'" Miller said.

She was with family at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, waiting and hoping that they'd find him there. But Spikes wasn't there.

"His body was still at the Cameo," Miller said. "He never made it to the hospital."

The family learned sometime around 7 a.m., after spending hours in the hospital, that Spikes had been shot to death at the nightclub.

Spikes was the father of three young children, who are with other family members, Miller said.

Miller described the 27-year-old as a "happy" young man.

"I remember shaking his hand. I remember hugging him," Miller said of his encounters with Spikes at the church. "He would be someone that I would be a friend to today. He was polite, respectful.

"He loved the music," Miller said, shaking his head and smiling. "When he was here, he was engaged."

That wasn't often, Miller said, but one of his sisters recently told Miller she'd hoped that her brother would soon become more than an "Easter" Sunday church-goer.

"I said that's all right," Miller said.

He was busy with phone calls all morning Tuesday, from people who heard the news of Spikes' demise. Miller was also planning a funeral service, though he had to find a church that could hold a lot of people. "At least a thousand," he said.

Miller said the visitation would take place April 8, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by the funeral. ​

It was clear through what Miller had heard since Sunday morning that Spikes was known, loved and missed.

"Many people liked him if not, they loved him."

Andrea Houston, who knew him since he was 14, was said it was too hard to say much about her longtime friend. "He was a sweet, gentle person who loved life, his children and family," she said. "He would give his last to a friend in need."

She wasn't with him when he died, but she said, I was actually on my way there when this horrible thing happened."

Meanwhile, friends and acquaintances sent their condolences to Spikes' family on a fundraising site that his sister set up.

"My heart goes out to the family. His children especially," one donor wrote. "Prayers going up."

A large crime scene unit at the Cameo Night Club on Kellogg Ave. in Linwood, next to the Rivertown Marina. The overnight shooting at the club, which was packed according to police, left one dead and 14 injured. Police called the scene "chaotic and complicated".
Liz Dufour, The Enquirer/ Liz Dufour

A large crime scene unit at the Cameo Night Club on Kellogg Ave. in Linwood, next to the Rivertown Marina. The overnight shooting at the club, which was packed according to police, left one dead and 14 injured. Police called the scene "chaotic and complicated". Liz Dufour, The Enquirer/ Liz Dufour

Police operate at a crime scene outside the Cameo Nightclub after a reported fatal shooting, Sunday, March 26, 2017, in Cincinnati. At least two people opened fire inside a crowded nightclub early Sunday morning. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo, AP

Police operate at a crime scene outside the Cameo Nightclub after a reported fatal shooting, Sunday, March 26, 2017, in Cincinnati. At least two people opened fire inside a crowded nightclub early Sunday morning. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo, AP

Police operate at a crime scene outside the Cameo Nightclub after a reported fatal shooting, Sunday, March 26, 2017, in Cincinnati. At least two people opened fire inside a crowded nightclub early Sunday morning. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo, AP